‘Star Trek: Discovery’ The Complete Series Blu-Ray Review – Beloved Franchise Wraps Latest Installment

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms. The fifth and final season will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well… dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

For in-depth thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery, please see my previous reviews here and here.

Video Quality

Star Trek: Discovery – The Complete Series arrives on Blu-Ray with a lovely AVC encoded 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio. The five seasons and 65 episodes are spread over 20 discs that mirror the individual season releases, plus an exclusive disc to this set for additional special features. You can check the links above for individual season assessments, but this series stays pretty consistent throughout. We would have loved a 4K UHD Blu-Ray upgrade, but fans should be more than satisfied with the quality here. 

The modern era of Trek flows through the screen with sumptuous cinematography which delivers a cinematic quality that makes this series feel a bit more special than just another streaming series. The special effects always feel top-notch and are perfectly rendered here. Each world or environment you visit should be praised for its ability to invite the audience in and allow them to become fully immersed. This series never feels notably inferior to the feature films. You will delight in the levels of detail this presentation can display. A world of subtle facets in the production design is easily identifiable thanks to this transfer.

The color palette opens up with some magical hues popping off the screen including the skin of certain alien races and various other stunning colors in the production design. Black levels are appropriately deep and give way to an excellent amount of detail in shadows. Skin tones appear very natural across the entire cast throughout the series. The only notable issue is the banding that can be spotted at various points throughout the viewing experience. CBS Home Entertainment has released a nice Blu-Ray set that is a great visual representation of the series. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray set comes with a very effective DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that creates an enveloping soundscape. Ambient sounds are placed with precision in the side and rear channels for full three-dimensional sound. The spatial awareness of the track is never less than impressive, and the panning techniques are very effective. The soaring series music from Jeff Russo continues to be one of the highlights of the viewing experience. His work perfectly sets the tone for the story, and it creates a nicely enveloping sound that draws you further into the show. Dialogue always comes through clearly without being overwhelmed by the score or any sound effects. Action sequences and more kinetic moments are given the appropriate weight in the mix with a forceful showing in the low end. The audio presentation here is a knockout on all levels.

Special Features

Season 1

• Launch Promos (4:44)

• Discovering Discovery – The Concepts and Casting of Star Trek: Discovery: A 17-minute look at the place of this series in the larger franchise and the cast brought together for this found family. 

• Standing In The Shadow of Giants – Creating the Sound of Discovery: An eight-minute look at the music of the series. 

• Creature Comforts: A 16-minute look at some of the design elements of the series such as costuming, prosthetics, and more. 

• Designing Discovery: A 12-minute dive into the set design elements of the series. 

• Creating Space: A 13-minute piece on the creation of a key scene from the premiere. 

• Prop Me Up: A 13-minute featurette on the various props in the series. 

• A Woman’s Journey: An 11-minute look at the women in the series and their various journeys. 

• Dress For Success: A nearly 22-minute exploration of the costumes. 

• Feeding Frenzy: A fun seven-minute video on the creation of a key meal in the show. 

• Season 1 Promo: A minute-long collection of pivotal season 1 moments. 

• Star Trek: Discovery – The Voyage of Season 1: A 41-minute documentary on the production of the debut season. 

• Deleted & Extended Scenes:  There is unused material from six episodes totaling 12 minutes.

Season 2

• Audio Commentaries

• • Brother: Sonequa Martin-Green and Alex Kurtzman

• • New Eden: Anson Mount and Jonathan Frakes

• • Through The Valley of Shadows: Anson Mount and Ethan Peck

• • Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2: Olatunde Osunsanmi, Michelle Paradise, Jenny Lumet, and Alex Kurtzman

• Season 2 Promo (1:14)

• Designing Discovery – Season 2: An 18-minute dive into the set design elements of the series. 

• Prop Me Up – Season 2: A nine-minute featurette on the various props in the series. 

• Dress For Success – Season 2: A 16-minute exploration of the costumes. 

• Creature Comforts – Season 2: A nearly 16-minute look at some of the design elements of the series such as costuming, prosthetics, and more. 

• Creating Space: A 10-minute piece on the creation of key visual effects. 

• Putting It Together: A 43-minute documentary on the conclusion of the season. 

• Star Trek: Discovery – The Voyage of Season 2: A 56-minute documentary on the production of the sophomore season. 

• Enter The Enterprise: A nearly 11-minute featurette on the reconstruction of the Enterprise. 

• The Red Angel: A 13-minute video on the mysterious figure engrained in this season. 

• Gag Reel: A seven-minute collection of flubbed lines, laughing fits, malfunctioning props, and more. 

• Star Trek: Short Treks: Shorts are provided that can also be found on the Star Trek: Short Treks standalone Blu-Ray release. 

• • “The Brightest Star” (14:47)

• • “Runaway” (15:21)

• Deleted & Extended Scenes:  There is unused material from eight episodes totaling 20 minutes.

Season 3 

• Deleted Scenes: There is unused material from seven episodes totaling 15 minutes.

• Writer’s Log – Michelle Paradise: A 14-minute featurette in which Executive Producer Michelle Paradise gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the shooting of the premiere episode in Iceland. There are many fun moments with various cast and crew members as this is a less formal affair. 

• Star Trek: Discovery – The Voyage of Season 3: A nearly 29-minute piece that takes a look at the new season including the time-jump, the overall story, new and returning characters, the setting, themes, the cinematography, the structure of the season and so much more. This is a fairly involved piece with a lot of good information. 

• Stunted: A nearly 15-minute piece that gives a great look at some of the stunts from this season with Stunt Coordinator Christopher McGuire and more. 

• Being Michael Burnham: A 24-minute vlog from Sonequa Martin-Green with clips from the show interspersed. You gain a lot of nice insights into the process of shooting the show from the front lines. 

• Kenneth Mitchell – To Boldly Go: An 18-minute featurette in which actor Kenneth Mitchell talks about the various characters he plays both under makeup and outside of it. This piece also delves into his experience with ALS along with impressions from some of the cast and crew members that have worked with him. You can tell there is a great admiration for him on set. 

• Bridge Building: A 26-minute featurette that takes a lovely examination of the bridge crew and what they mean to the show. 

• Gag Reel: This nearly five-minute piece showcases some of the giggle fits, malfunctioning props, forgotten lines, and otherwise ruined takes that are quite funny. My personal favorite moments involve Tig Notaro struggling to remember her lines. 

Season 4

• Audio Commentary: There is an audio commentary on the finale “Coming Home” featuring Michelle Paradise, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala.

• Deleted Scenes: There is unused material from Choose To Live, The Examples, and Rosetta. Some of the scenes include some unfinished special effects. 

• Star Trek: Discovery – The Voyage of Season 4: A nearly 53-minute piece that takes a look at the new season including the overall story, new and returning characters, the setting, themes, the cinematography, the structure of the season and so much more. This is a fairly involved piece with a lot of good information. 

• Being Michael Burnham – The Captain’s Log: A nearly 15-minute vlog from Sonequa Martin-Green with clips from the show interspersed. You gain a lot of nice insights into the process of shooting the show from the front lines, the emotion behind her character taking on the role of captain, and how her background informs the character. 

• Creating Space: A 20-minute featurette in which Supervising Art Director Matt Middleton discusses how they use LED technology to transport our characters to unbelievable worlds, the more seamless experience for the performers to be able to see their character’s environment, how they use lighting and much more that is a treat for technology nerds. 

• The Toll It Took: A 12-minute featurette that takes a look at the new realities of shooting during a global pandemic, the precautions that needed to be taken, how the cast and crew acclimated to their new situation, the effects of not being able to go back home as frequently and more. 

• Gag Reel: This three-minute piece showcases some of the giggle fits, malfunctioning props, forgotten lines, and otherwise ruined takes that are quite funny.

Season 5

• Audio Commentary: There is an audio commentary on the finale “Life Itself” featuring Michelle Paradise, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala.

• Deleted Scenes: There is unused material from Life Itself.

• A Team Effort: A 20-minute featurette that takes a look at all of the work from the various departments that goes into creating an episode of Star Trek: Discovery.

• Discovery’s Creative Force: A ten-minute piece on the people who help bring the series to life with a focus on Olatunde Osunsanmi.

• Being Michael Burnham: A 13-minute spotlight on Sonequa Martin-Green with clips from the show interspersed. You gain a lot of nice insights into her overall experience with the series as it comes to a conclusion. 

• Character Development: A nearly 24-minute dive into the arcs of these characters over the five seasons.

• Star Trek: Discovery – The Voyage of Season 5: A 39-minute piece that takes a look at the final season including the overall story, new and returning characters, the setting, themes, the cinematography, the structure of the season and so much more. This is a fairly involved piece with a lot of good information. 

• Gag Reel: This four-minute piece showcases some of the giggle fits, malfunctioning props, forgotten lines, and otherwise ruined takes that are quite funny.

Bonus Disc

• Series Roundtable: A 57-minute virtual roundtable with Alex Kurtzman, Sonequa Martin-Green, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, Doug Jones, and David Ajala. There are some good anecdotes in here, but the structure feels a bit off due to the lack of a proper moderator as a good portion of the time is spent with the participants watching clips from episodes and promotional events and reacting in real time to whatever memories pop up. 

• The Art of Discovery – Production Design: A 42-minute slideshow of concept art of the ships, planets and more from all five seasons. 

• The Art of Discovery – Costumes: A similar 16-minute slideshow is given to the concept art for the costumes from the series. 

Final Thoughts

Star Trek: Discovery is a series that always struggled to settle on solid ground throughout its five seasons. There were many entertaining stretches that showed you how great this series could be, but often the writers could not land on an arc that balanced the overall story and individual character growth in a perfect way. When in doubt, the series would dedicate more time to delving into our characters, but the overall story of any given season was typically the weakest aspect of the series. We like this crew and will miss following them, but they will not go down as one of the great outings for this franchise. CBS Home Entertainment has delivered a Blu-Ray set for the entire run with a strong A/V presentation and a plentiful assortment of special features. Recommended 

Star Trek: Discovery – The Complete Series will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD on August 27, 2024.  

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: CBS Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.